Part 9: Talking Talking Talking...

After the first challenging dungeon in the game, we've made it to the magical city of Vane-

Oh hi Nash.

: Wow! Alex, you're fast! On behalf of our city, let me welcome you to Vane. I have to bring up Master Ghaleon up to date on the status of the trip. And, I should find you a magic tutor. Hm… Maybe I can talk to Ghaleon about that… I better run… See you around Alex!

Nash being congenial still wigs me out. Did they replace him when we weren't looking? Has he been snatched?

Once he leaves, we can poke around Vane. It's nowhere near as large as Meribia, but there's still plenty to see.



No, we're not leaving! But do talk to that man; he heals you, and that's nice.

Thankfully, if you do leave, you don't have to do the Cave all over again. You'll just teleport back here.


"They say that it is barren because the light from Goddess Althena does not shine there."

Vane is full of exposition, and a lot of it new. For example, this is one of the first mentions of the Frontier, and more importantly what the Frontier specifically is.


"Wreaking havoc on it's fair people. However, Goddess Althena, in her wisdom, gathered the Vile Tribe and banished them to the desolation of the Frontier."

And the first mention of the Vile Tribe. We haven't yet encountered anyone from the Vile Tribe-


"They say he's amassing a force from the Vile Tribe to break out from the Frontier!"

-but I don't think that'll be true for long. It's not entirely clear what this means, but it can't be good whatever it is.


"Now Master Ghaleon is assisting Lemia as the premier of Vane."

Changing topic, we find that in fact two of the Four Heroes live in Vane. Damn, Alex may already meet all the (living) Four Heroes in his quest. That was quick.

Hell, we may actually be taught by one of the Four Heroes themselves. Since, uh, that is kind of why we're here. I mean, sure, we learn magic just by leveling up anyway, but, hell, maybe we can expedite the process. Nash said he was going to talk to Ghaleon about it, but if we try and find either one of them, they're nowhere to be found. So we'll have to take matters into our own hands.


"I overslept! If I'm late to class one more time, I'll have to stay at the academy another year!"

Fortunately, this rather... baffling fellow gives us a clear indication where the classrooms are. Seriously, how in the hell did he "oversleep?" He's standing right in front of the academies! Was he sleep-walking?



In any case, we don't really have any option other than just going and begging to be let into their class. Well, shit, if this absentminded sleepwalker can get accepted here, certainly Alex has a chance.


"Without the dragons, you can't be appointed as Dragonmaster!"

Wait, extinct? Uh... did no one go and actually try and verify this fact for themselves? What on earth caused them to assume that? If nothing else, we can set Vane's academia straight on some things.


"I'm sorry, but this academy's only for the elite of Vane. We can't accept you..."

Or not. Fortunately, there is another academy next door, so let's give that one a chance.


"It was Dragonmaster Dyne who took care of him! It was his last adventure..."

So now we have a bit more insight about Dyne's last adventure, and how he probably lost his life. Interestingly, none of this is in the remake; in those games, it's not really known what Dyne did in his last days. Neither did the Black Dragon go insane.


"In times past, she has even come to live among the people as a human! As long as the Goddess exists, our world is safe."

Perhaps I was a bit hasty is saying that Althena won't be shopping in Meribia.


"I really wanted to study under Damon, the keeper of knowledge, to get a broader perspective on our world."

A couple of other NPCs mention this Damon, but as of this moment we don't know much else about him, other than the fact he's.... knowledgeable.

But speaking of knowledge, perhaps we should ask the teacher if it's okay for an outsider to be barging in there.


"If you don't have a letter of introduction, you'll have to wait for next year's examinations! Absolutely no exceptions!"

I didn't think so.

We'll have to go crawling to Nash for help, but I don't think I can force myself to do that just yet.

...

Actually, the truth is Nash just plain won't show up until we do something completely unrelated.


"Also, the tower is crawling with all sort of monsters to deter thieves..."

By this I mean enter this clearly forbidden tower. Which the guards will not stop us from entering in the slightest.


"You break the law of the guild. Those that do are sentenced to death."

That's nice! See you two later.





But the second you enter the tower the screen flashes. Huh. That's odd.

(The treasure chest is an herb. Kind of disappointing.)



However, we discover we're not alone.



: My name’s Mia. I’m so worried about my mother. She’s acting very weird. I know you just got here, but did you hear anyone talking about how weird my mother’s been lately? I’m so worried about her, but I don’t know what to do!

It's not immediately evident what she hopes to accomplish hanging around the first floor of this tower, staring at the stairs, but she's actually got her reasons. Mainly, if you try and go up those stairs-



It just takes you to the start again.

: Boy Alex, to get inside this tower is hard, but you seemed to have no trouble. See if you can get to the 2nd floor. I can’t even do that.

Yeah, we can't either. We won't be able to help Mia for the time being, but I have a feeling we'll be back later. For now, let's look for Nash.


"Its been empty for some time because Lemia has ceased seeing guests..."

Guess Alex isn't going to be meeting up with all the surviving Four Heroes after all.

Although...



It doesn't look empty to me.


"She's such a fragile and lovely girl... Mia is supposed to be the next leader of the Magic Guild, but many are wondering if such a timid girl can assume such a heavy responsibility..."

Ah, so weird mother Mia was mentioning was in fact... Lemia. Hm.

By the way, in the remake you meet Mia very differently. Nash escorts you to a waiting room until you can meet with Ghaleon. But you go walking around anyway, and you eventually bust uninvited into Mia's bedroom because Alex is a gentleman like that. But she's too busy crying over her mommy issues to get too upset. (Nash, however, chews you out when he finds you.)

Yeah, in either version her mom is causing her a lot of grief. But most people have had nothing but nice things to say about her.


"Detained."

Well... the people who aren't in prison. Although, hell, she probably has a damn good reason to be detaining people.


"We’ve got fun and games. Lemia will stick you here if you mispronounce her name.”

Or she's gone crazy with power.

We can't actually talk to any of these prisoners, so we're not hearing their side of the story. In any case, I guess we should be happy Lemia doesn't really bother with the peons anymore. Hopefully, Ghaleon will be a little more... reasonable.



Yes, yes, I know this is just a transitional screenshot, stop drawing attention to that!


"Nash is abrasive and Mia kind and sweet. Nash is a small-time magician and Mia's acting head of the Magic Guild of Vane... it'll never work!"

I just find it amusing that this guy will dish out the gossip with Nash right there.


: Why Alex? ...oh, I see. You couldn’t get in to any of the academies. Let me go talk to Master Ghaleon. Maybe he can help you... follow me!

Yes, we're coming here to talk to you about the thing you said we were going to do and you're surprised about this why?



Oh well, at least it gets us an audience with one of the Four Heroes.



Let's us steal his stuff!

By the way, all it does is play a teeny little tune. You can sell for some cash.

Anyway, let's meet another of the Four Heroes. This time we get to hear him speak!


: Welcome to the Magic Guild of Vane, Alex of Burg. I’m Ghaleon, premier of the Guild. My apprentice Nash speaks well of you; he says you helped him a great deal on his journey. You seem to be quite resourceful, Alex. Perhaps you can help me…

...

...

...hi?


: And I want you to know that I’m ready to help you in any way I can. Why, I shall talk to Lemia about this, just as soon as you show me how much power you already have… My assistant, Glumm, shall give you a task that will show us your worth…

Oh, he just wants to send us on an errand. Well, that was an unnecessarily ominous way to do it!

So what kind of task will Ghaleon's certainly cheery assistant give us anyway?


“Across from Lann there is a man that claims to be the next Dragonmaster! We think he is an imposter, but, of course, we must be certain. We’d like you to go to Lann, cross to the isle in the lake, and take care of this nuisance… simple!”

I see. You know, even though he's probably not a real Dragonmaster, if this guy is powerful enough to pass for one, is it really wise to send an untested teenage boy alone to deal with him? Either they think this guy isn't truly a threat at all, or they have a lot of faith in Alex. Or they don't give two shits about a small coastal village. Yeah, that's probably more likely.

Well, we don't actually have to go at it alone.


: But would you like me to go along?

For once, this is an actual choice. We can say no, and continue with the game. In the remake, you have no choice but to bring Nash along. But since we have a choice...

: Well, then, it's settled! With me along on this quest, there's no doubt we'll be successful!

We'll bring him along anyway.



Since we've gained a ton of levels, and Nash has only gained one, he's not as useful as he was when we first got him. Yeah, even though he hasn't been in the party for a while, he doesn't get set at a higher level or even at the party average. That kind of hurts Nash for most of the game. So even though he's not going to be contributing much in the next bit, it's a good idea to bring him so he gets some experience.

Before we head out, we should probably see if they're anything we want to buy.



Most of the weapons for sell are for mages, as you'd except, but they do have a really awesome upgrade for Alex in the form of a Long Sword. It's 4500 silver, but I can actually afford that. The enemies we'll be fighting later on will be susceptible to weapons, so the Long Sword will be making a lot of the upcoming sections so much easier. For once, I do buy a new weapon.

The other new weapons are canes; the expensive Fire Cane (4000 silver!) and the Ice Cane. The reason the Fire Cane is expensive is because it casts Flamer in battle. Nice, but not worth the money.



The armor shop is kind of sad, though. The two new items are the Bracelet (hand armor for mages) and the Magic Robe. The Magic Robe is a pretty good upgrade for mages, but it's 6200(!) silver. Honestly, since mages rarely get hit (you're putting them in the back row, right?) they is no reason to spend much of any money on their defense. Nash can actually wear Alex's leftover Leather Armor, so he'll make do with that.



Oooh buddy, a lot this is new. From left to right, they are the Cloud Drops, which reduces defense for one target, the Rainbow Drops, which seals attacks for all monsters, the Sun Drops, which does a bit of damage to one monster, the Light Barrier, which silences one target, and the Power Barrier, which shields the party from magic. I never really use any of those items, so I honestly don't know how well they work. (I'm just getting the descriptions from the guide book)

The bottom is the Cascade Ring. It doesn't raise your stats or anything (as far as I can see) but it casts Cascade Litany (a single-target version of Luna's Cascade Song) in battle. Then breaks. Totally useless.



And there's another item shop, but this one sells stuff we've mostly seen. The green vial is the mint essence, which cures sleeping and confusion. Both of which do suck, although sleep doesn't tend to last that long. I don't think any enemies coming up cast it either, though.

But what you're really wondering about Mia's Bromide. In the remakes, you can collect these glamor pin-ups of the various ladies in your party (and in Lunar 2: Complete, occasionally the men.) There's only one in the original, and you can't view it. But you can equip it!



It does nothing. I've heard it's supposed to increase Anti-Magic when equipped on Nash, but I've checked the status screen and I don't see a difference.

Next time: We show that fake Dragonmaster how it's done.